Summary: Empirically-grounded Reference Architectures: A
Proposal
Matthias Galster
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
m.r.galster@rug.nl
Paris Avgeriou
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
paris@cs.rug.nl
ABSTRACT
A reference architecture describes core elements of the software
architecture for systems that stem from the same domain. A
reference architecture ensures interoperability of systems through
standardization. It also facilitates the instantiation of new concrete
architectures. However, we currently lack procedures for
systematically designing reference architectures that are
empirically-grounded. Being empirically-grounded would
increase the validity and reusability of a reference architecture.
We therefore present an approach which helps systematically
design reference architectures. Our approach consists of six steps
performed by the software architect and domain experts. It helps